Game Day grain-free crackers with guacamole topping, ACD-Phase 1 friendly

Football-shaped crackers with guacamole topping, ACD-Phase 1

Can you believe Americans will eat 30 million pounds of snacks on Super Bowl Sunday? Here's what they will be eating:

• 11.2 million pounds of potato chips
• 8.2 million pounds of tortilla chips
• 4.3 million pounds of pretzels
• 3.8 million pounds of popcorn
• 2.5 million pounds of nuts

Potato chip consumption alone will add up to 27 million calories and four million pounds of fat (the weight of 13,000 NFL offensive lineman). I'm thinking their waistlines would thank them if they snacked on veggies and fruit instead.

What will you be snacking on Super Bowl Sunday? How about some grain-free, football-shaped crackers with guacamole topping? They are tasty, filling and suitable for ACD-Phase 1. I made them in two different veggie flavors, beet and spaghetti squash. If you want to get fancy, you can use a cookie cutter or pattern to cut them into football shapes. Or just cut them into rectanges or triangles. They'll still be yummy.

Here's what you need for the beet-flavored crackers:

1. 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2. 1/2 cup coconut flour
3. 1/2 cup raw grated beet
4. Optional: 1/2 clove minced garlic
5. 1/2 tsp. dry cilantro
6. 1 T. olive oil
7. Salt to taste

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grind the sunflower seeds in a food processor until they form a coarse flour. Add the remaining ingredients and process until the mixture forms a sticky ball.
3. Spread the mixture onto a well-greased baking sheet. Use wet hands to spread and flatten the dough. You want it to be 1/4-inch in thickness if possible. Score the dough with a  knife into desired shapes. (Note: for the football shape, you will need to spread the dough first on a piece of wax paper. Then, cut the shapes and transfer to your baking sheet.)
4. Place in the preheated oven and bake 25-30 minutes. Leave the crackers in longer if needed.
5. When the crackers are done, remove from the oven and let cool.

Here's what you need for the spaghetti-squash crackers:

1. 2 T. hemp seeds
2. 1 cup toasted sunflower seeds
3. 1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
4. 1 T. chia seed
5. sea salt to taste
6. 1 T. olive oil
7. 1/4 cup water
8. 1 T. coconut flour
9. 1 cup spaghetti squash puree
10. 1 tsp. cumin
11. 1 tsp. dried cilantro

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a large cookie sheet with pan spray.
3. Grind all the seeds to a coarse grind in a coffee grinder.
4. Puree spaghetti squash in a food processor.
5. Add the ground seeds and other ingredients to the food processor, containing the squash.
6. Pulse to mix to somewhat wet dough.
7. Spread the dough with wet hands to keep dough from sticking on the cookie sheet.
8. The dough should be about 1/4-inch thick and in the shape of a large rectangle about 10 X 15 inches. Score the dough with a knife or pizza cutter to create desired shapes.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
10. Remove from oven.
11. Spread the crackers and return to oven.
12. Continue baking the crackers until they are hard and crisp. Turn the crackers over and turn the pan from time to time to facilitate crisping.

Broccoli-kale pesto on beet cracker

You can make a simple guacamole for topping or dipping the crackers. Simply mash one avocado with the juice of one lime. Add chopped red onion, if desired. Season with salt and pepper. For a more spreadable topping, blend the guacamole in a Magic Bullet-type device.

Another option would be Broccoli-Kale pesto, pictured above on a flax-beet cracker. Get the recipe for the crackers here:
http://catsinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2013/02/coco-spice-sauce.html

Here's what you need:

1. 1 broccoli crown, separated into florets and steamed until tender and bright green
2. Leaves from two-three stems of kale
3. 1/2 cup ground pumpkin seeds
4. Juice of one lemon
5. 1-2 T. olive oil
6. Water if needed

Here's what you do:

1. Steam the broccoli and allow to cool. Place the cooled broccoli and other ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth and creamy. Add a dash of water if necessary to reach the desired consistency.

No Super Bowl Party crashing for these guys.

On Super Bowl Sunday, stay healthy and dry, not muddy like my pooch, Misha, and his husky pal, Bailey, and his owner, Michele. Melting snow and warmer temps produced perfect conditions for this pair to become mud-covered huskies. Oh, Michelle got her share of mud too.

Get more anti-candida snacking ideas here: http://catsinthekitchen.blogspot.com/p/anti-candida-acd-snacks.html

 Or get even more recipes at http://www.dietdessertndogs.com/2013/01/31/wellness-weekend-january-31-february-4/